Kindly Seated vs Seatful
Seatful is a $14.99 seating planner with RSVP collection: guests reply from a link, the chart updates, and you export a floor plan, cards and a QR page. Kindly Seated is a $99 typesetting service for a plan you've already finished. Seatful is the stronger choice while RSVPs are still coming in and seats are still moving. Kindly Seated is for the week the plan is done and the printed set has to be right.
What is the difference between Seatful and Kindly Seated?
Seatful manages the seating; Kindly Seated typesets it. In Seatful you import guests, lay out tables on a to-scale room, seat people by dragging or with smart seating, and send RSVP links that free seats and add plus-ones automatically. It runs in the browser and as an iPhone app, in five languages. In Kindly Seated there is no floor plan and no RSVP collection. You upload one row per guest with a table, we check it, and you download six matching print files and a guest page.
Both are a one-time payment for a single event. Both export place cards and a QR find-your-seat page. Seatful also makes a caterer report with meals and allergies, which we don't.
How do they compare side by side?
On a phone, scroll the table sideways to see both columns.
| Kindly Seated | Seatful (Event Pass) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you start with | Your finished guest list with tables, uploaded or pasted | A guest list imported from CSV or Excel, then seated by hand or with smart seating on a floor plan |
| RSVPs | Not handled. You collect RSVPs however you like and upload the result | Built in: guests reply from a link in their own language; declines free the seat, plus-ones join the unseated list |
| Floor plan | No | Yes, to scale in feet or metres, with a venue photo as a traceable background |
| Checks before printing | Missing tables, possible duplicates and overlong names flagged for you to decide. Nothing merged or guessed | Duplicates caught at import; plus-ones never overwrite a guest; every edit undoable |
| Printed seating chart | Typeset chart at 16 × 20, 18 × 24, 24 × 36 in, A2 or A1, alphabetical or by table, names sized to be read from a few feet | PDF floor plan, alphabetical name-to-table lookup and a "door poster"; sizes not published |
| Matching pieces | Chart, tent place cards, table numbers, QR sign, backup list, guest page, in one of six designs | Floor plan, name lookup, place and escort cards, table numbers, door poster, QR page with a tap-to-see table map, caterer report |
| Guest page | Shows the guest's table and tablemates by first name; never the whole list | QR find-your-seat page with a table map |
| Where it runs | Any browser, from a private link | Browser and iPhone app; works offline, autosaves on the device |
| Late changes | Edit on the dashboard; all files and the guest page regenerate, free, until the event | RSVPs and edits update the chart; re-export the PDFs |
| Free option | Full preview with your real names, watermarked and partly blurred, no download | One event, up to 40 seated guests, first 8 RSVPs; exports watermarked |
| Published price | $99 once, $149 for 251–500 guests | $14.99 once (Event Pass). Pro for planners $290 a year |
| Who makes it | A one-person studio in Utah (about) | Handler Labs LLC, Florida |
| Checkout | Stripe | Stripe, or the App Store |
Seatful details are from seatful.app and its pricing page as published on 9 November 2026; they may change. We have no affiliation with Seatful or Handler Labs.
When is Seatful the better choice?
- RSVPs are still open. Seatful's link collects replies and moves seats for you. We only start once the list is final, or final enough to preview.
- You want to plan the room, not just the list. To-scale tables, a venue photo underneath, a dance floor to leave clear: that's planning software, and Seatful is good at it.
- You plan on your phone or without signal. The iPhone app works offline. Our dashboard needs a browser and a connection.
- You need a caterer report with meals and allergies, or RSVP pages in Japanese, German, French or Spanish.
- Price. $14.99 against $99. If seating in a tool is time you're happy to spend, Seatful costs a sixth as much.
When is Kindly Seated the better choice?
- The seating is decided and lives in a spreadsheet. Seatful needs every guest placed in its editor before it can export. We take the sheet as it is.
- The printed chart is the point. Ours is a typeset poster at easel size with names measured for legibility (size guide), not a floor-plan export. Place cards and table numbers match it exactly.
- You're sending files to a print shop. Pre-print checks, crop marks, a calibration square and a printing guide are there to stop a wasted run, which costs more than the price gap.
- You want nothing to learn. Upload, read the flags, preview, pay, download. No layout to build the week of the wedding.
How this guide was written
Written and published by Kindly Seated, a one-person studio in Utah. The measurements and layout advice come from our own typesetting software, run on fictional guest lists. Drafting was AI-assisted; Alex reviewed and edited every sentence before it went live, and reviews it again whenever the "Updated" date changes. Nothing here is sponsored.
Sources
Plan finished? See it typeset, free
Upload your list and look at every file with your real names before deciding. If Seatful turns out to be the better fit, you've lost nothing.
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